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Fresh in the memories of airline travelers are the new fees charged to check luggage through to destinations. First appalled, then angered and finally resolved, travelers watched as American Airlines set the precedent and other airlines jumped on board.
A similar trend is emerging among popular social networking websites, specifically, charging for a service we've all taken for granted: free messaging to other users. Their representatives claim the new fees provide a means to reduce SPAM and prevent overfull in boxes. While LinkedIn.com has long required annual fees of a minimum $39.95 per year for users to send unrestricted messages to others outside their linked network, a wild rumor serviced in January from the absurdest online tabloid The Weekly World News that Facebook will start charging fees to use the service:

Email harvesting is the process of obtaining lists of email addresses using various methods for use in bulk email or other purposes. If you’ve gotten spam, it’s likely you’ve been a victim of this practice. It’s safe to say we’ve all suffered its wrath. There’s even a website devoted to shaming the scammers by scamming them back: http://www.419eater.com/html/hall_of_shame.htm

Paranoia plays a necessary role in how we approach technology, whether supplying information to websites or guarding our customers’ information on the websites we build. For personal fortification, many of my friends are using two email addresses for everyday use. The first, for friends, family and “reputable” websites, and the second for any registrations they feel could compromise the privacy of usernames, email addresses and passwords. Who hasn’t created a pen name and fake address for the purpose of blasting through a registration form to get a download link?

Because we love supporting whimsical if not useful website technology and applications, we also know that there’s a good chance our information may be used in a way we’d never agree to. If you’re not about to stop registering for services on new websites, and that’s what makes the Internet so darn fun, then here’s a few tricks of the trade to protect privacy and to avoid excessive SPAM:

Gmail Spam Filters – No doubt they are the best in the business. Yahoo is catching up, but if you’re not using one or the other, then you can bet that your system administrator is paying for SPAM filters and spending the time to do it. Email without SPAM guard software is just not an option anymore, regardless of how obscure your email address seems.

Plus-addressing: Gmail has an interesting feature where you can add a plus sign (+) after your Gmail address, and it’ll still get to your inbox. It essentially gives you an unlimited number of e-mail addresses to play with. So, when you register at www.meetup.com using your email address, enter youraddress+meetup@gmail.com and you’ll be able to track future incoming email, and you’ll know if meetup.com sold you out http://www.digitalalchemy.tv/2006/09/use-gmail-generate-unlimited-e-mail.html

When going out to the www, or what might also be called the wild wild web, we must keep our defenses but also not shy away from pioneering through the great technology gap that makes it so much fun to be plugged into the Internet.

The desperation can be seen through moderated postings on Apple's website, posted in their own Apple Support Community. Here, gdgmacguy had some choice words for someone who suggested that Apple is ignoring the issue:

Apple does NOT support downgrading the iOS. Why? who knows, But they don't. Nothing you can do. If you want to jailbreak your phone and downgrade, then fine. But look at all the postings here by people who have attempted to do so and permanently disabled their phones. Jailbreaking voids your warranty with Apple and eliminates your right to any further assistance. Your choice. No one forced you to upgrade in the first place.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4387499?start=0&tstart=0

But other newsgroups, not moderated by Apple, are giving legacy hardware (i.e., iPhone 4) owners ways to avoid upgrading to new hardware (i.e., iPhone 5) by sharing techniques...

In the 1978 ‘Rescue from Gilligan’s Island’, actor Russell Johnson shows the Professor in a reinvention predicament. After returning to work at a university, he discovers all his inventions made (while stranded on the island) had been invented already, among them the Frisbee and skateboard. His frustration makes him want to give up the world he's come back to.
Reinventing the wheel has become a modern epidemic plaguing Internet technologists, and some are even giving up on innovation and settling into parlaying the same flawed technology because of a fear of trademark infringement or, more frightening still, because they think it just can’t be done any better. Blogger Tim Kastelle has written much about what he calls the Innovation Problem (IP), which advocates that we approach innovation through idea management, an effective counter to the...

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In the 1978 ‘Rescue from Gilligan’s Island’, actor Russell Johnson shows the Professor in a reinvention predicament. After returning to work at a university, he discovers all his inventions made (while stranded on the island) had been invented already, among them the Frisbee and skateboard. His frustration makes him want to give up the world he’s come back to. Reinventing the wheel has become a modern epidemic plaguing Internet technologists, and some are even giving up on innovation and settling into parlaying the same flawed technology because of a fear of trademark infringement or, more frightening still, because they think it just can’t be done any better. Blogger Tim Kastelle has written much about what he calls the Innovation Problem (IP), which advocates that we approach innovation through idea management, an effective counter to the pitfalls of commercialization. “In the commercialisation view, the only way to win is to have a great idea, protect the IP from it, and bring more

If websites came in ice cream flavors, many website entrepreneurs would think theirs a variety of Ben & Jerry’s. “Wait until you hear about this cool idea,” they say. “No, this one’s different – there’s something unique in this business recipe!” Never mind they’re probably trying to reinvent the wheel. Listen and nod. Being a website manager invites clients and acquaintances to offer endless ideas on their next great Internet offering. “That’s a great idea!” you say. “Now, Google it and see how many others are doing it already.” Listen and nod. Butter Beendone Before or Strawberry Pipe Dream? The point here is that most websites and ice cream flavors consist of the same basic ingredients. Although Baskin Robins famously claims 31 flavors, most of these flavors start with chocolate, vanilla or some common base, and then get condiments and branding to differentiate them from the others: Banana Nut Fudge Black Walnut Burgundy Cherry Butterscotch Ribbon Cherry Macaroon Chocolate Chocolate Almond more

Let us, for a moment, draw comparisons between U.S. Internet service providers and U.S. bank lenders. Both data providers and lenders wield great power to influence productivity and economy. Chicago Tribute columnist Phil Rosenthal went so far to suggest that a lack of net-neutrality could make the rich richer and the poor poorer by allowing data providers to squeeze customers, charging variable rates that would inevitably cause poorer customers to suffer. A similar thinking goes that unchecked U.S. bank lenders would tend toward lending discrimination which would deny loans to groups of people based on socioeconomic limitations. Net-neutrality advocates want the government to enforce fairness in data distribution in a similar manner that the government regulates banks to ensure all classes have access to equal lending practices. There was a time when no mandate was in place for the government to regulate the banking system, but following early twentieth century financial crises, monetary policy regulation became a priority for U.S. more

Twitter once offered relaxed rules to encourage growth, but their massive expansion has recently led to bandwidth troubles and a paranoia about who Tweets where. Over the summer, new rules took effect not only to keep spammers, scrapers and bots at bay, but to prevent criminal and user bullying activity. An in-Tweet report button and updated Twitter Rules we accept, but their ongoing API Authentication protocol revisions are a pain in the arse. Website managers are in a constant scramble to update failing Twitter feeds. While API authentication effectively bans abusive users, it also aggravates the technology used to integrate Tweets. WordPress aficionado Jonas Kaufmann expressed his frustration: “If you can view the tweets of a person without being logged in on any computer, why should a bot not be able to do the same? I’m one of the first users asking this question and I guarantee you, I will find a solution, post it in the OP and within more

Edward Hadas at Reuters is so sure Bitcoin will collapse that he wrote an early obituary eulogizing the loss of confidence in a baseless cryptocurrency, caused by an illicit and valueless speculation war. Ignoring this death knell includes a long list of Bitcoin investors, each of whom harnesses arbitrage to stabilize the currency. A futures market for Bitcoin already exists and others are on the way. These proponents also point to the world’s first Bitcoin ATM installed in a Vancouver coffee shop in October 2013 and the others springing up since. It would seem the cryptocurrency craze has reinforced usable modularity across the spectrum – from investing to retail banking. The Bitcoin digital currency, which exists as software, is created by solving complex tasks embedded in a program through a process called mining. Once successfully mined, the currencies can be bought and sold via online exchanges. Websites like startbitcoin.com help novices learn to mine Bitcoins, and the underlying open source more

On February 5th Twitter announced that slowing sales and disappointing user growth means they need to reconfigure their design and core functionality. Twitter’s chief executive, Dick Costolo, told disappointed stock holders that twitter is desperately working on making its interface easier for users to use. “We will continue to invest in making Twitter a more visually engaging medium,” he said. “It will be a combination of changes introduced over the year that we believe will begin to change the slope of the growth curve.” But could bad design really explain the nearly 25% erosion in its stock price? Absolutely. Twitter is facing a slowdown in user growth, admitting that only 3.9% quarterly growth is half what previous quarters experienced. The shocking drop in the company’s valuation could point to a hyperinflated stock price, but New York Times writer Vindu Goel offers that the redesigned feature set available on Twitter has become too difficult to use: Twitter has finally acknowledged what more

The tech world is full of bullying in the workplace. Strategists revere Oracle’s Larry Ellison for alienating workers and customers to the tune of billions in annual revenues. Thanks to Hollywood, we’ve seen how Mark Zuckerberg acted during the early days of Facebook. Mark Pincus, CEO of Zynga, even boasted about the horrible things he did to get ahead and how fabulous his business became because of it. Despite all the politically correct rhetoric, it would appear big tech doesn’t really want to get rid of their bullies – they’re too profitable. That’s why those who work for them need to take a more measured approach: If you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t – better to go somewhere else. A few years ago my co-worker told me there were two paths to take with our bullying boss: “You’re his bootlicker or enemy.” But my success had little to do with blandishments and flattery for bosses. I had more

New York sent a message to Internet companies when it demanded access to personal information of 225,000 Airbnb user accounts, including bank account numbers and other personal data. The subpoena requires AirBnB to provide immediate access, setting a precedent for ongoing spying to police the website for users who illegally sublet their apartments. According to The Wall Street Journal‘s Allysia Finley, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has severed political ties with Netflix, Facebook, Amazon and Uber by “declaring war on the Internet community.” The legal battle continues as the hostile work environment that is New York City becomes evident. AirBnB faces a daunting battle in the short term, where antiquated laws reflect the reality of their struggle against New York City’s powerful hotel lobby. A New York City man was fined $2,400 for renting his room out by using the website, but the fine was later reversed on a technicality. Many webmasters say the precedent demanding ongoing access to more

I was trying to argue with manners during a panel forum when my mic stopped working. “Is the mic working? Can you hear me in the back?” I asked loudly. Someone in the back of the room screamed at the top of his voice, “I can’t hear you talk!” At which time a lady in the front row piped up, “Hey fella, that’s perfect! Let’s switch seats now.” A great communicator’s success, to a large degree, comes from an ability to argue with manners and without causing undue fatigue or frustration to those participating. The level of persistent disagreement around public policy today is disheartening but unlikely to abate. The constant vitriol is creating problems and enormous challenges in our communities – challenges that are disruptive to business, stable government, safety and to civil order. But in all this disorder and frustration, lies opportunity. My own skills have been honed to argue with manners and respect. I have come a more

Like it or not, sensationalism is how to write a great headline. As long as you are concise and factual you will not get penalized by Google. The way to a great SEO campaign is to follow this great new headline template policy. You’ll get clicks again and again after and your website manager cred will skyrocket! Template for a good headline … How’d you like to [new great thing] that [creates awesome outcome]? Do you know how [great outcome] with [new remarkable thing]? There’s a way to [great outcome] with this [new great thing]. If you knew about [new great thing] would you be interested? The way to a [great outcome] is to [new great thing]. Write a great headline for links to other blogs Linking to posts on your friend’s blogs or another business website allows you to display their content on your site – and build relevance with Google! Top-10 lists can be quite effective (i.e., North more

Website managers are showing their teeth a year after Adobe’s money grab. Despite popular media outlets who endorsed Adobe’s marketing blitz that customers would love it, customers clearly do not. Last year the mammoth software provider declared an end to the install and said they would move to a subscription model whereby users would be required to pay a monthly fee for access to their software. The model is nothing revolutionary, but it does challenge the bank books for struggling website managers and small businesses who will see the cost of running software skyrocket because of the change. For Adobe Dreamweaver a one-time install ($239.88/year) versus the cloud-based annual subscription ($239.88/year) suggests you’ll be paying a lot more for the cloud-based solution over time. Adobe counters that the software includes automatic updates as well as cloud-based services that add significant value to the software. Stephen Shankland wrote last year that “Customer enthusiasm for the Creative Cloud, combined with the awkwardness more

The desperation can be seen through moderated postings on Apple’s website, posted in their own Apple Support Community. Here, gdgmacguy had some choice words for someone who suggested that Apple is ignoring the issue: Apple does NOT support downgrading the iOS. Why? who knows, But they don’t. Nothing you can do. If you want to jailbreak your phone and downgrade, then fine. But look at all the postings here by people who have attempted to do so and permanently disabled their phones. Jailbreaking voids your warranty with Apple and eliminates your right to any further assistance. Your choice. No one forced you to upgrade in the first place. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4387499?start=0&tstart=0 But other newsgroups, not moderated by Apple, are giving legacy hardware (i.e., iPhone 4) owners ways to avoid upgrading to new hardware (i.e., iPhone 5) by sharing techniques to combat the bugs Apple engineers are introducing as an incentive for these users to buy new hardware. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3022587?start=405&tstart=0 For instance, the home more